McDowell Led 'TYNAN', Kron Premiere, and More Highlight 2009/2010 Season at CTG's Kirk Douglas Theatre

The 2009-2010 season at the Douglas was announced today by CTG's Artistic Director Michael Ritchie and it will include a world premiere, an American premiere and a West Coast premiere plus expanded DouglasPlus programming that includes an eclectic mix of theatre choices ranging from fully-staged productions to bare-bones workshops and readings. Limited-run, special events will also be a part of DouglasPlus.

"Our intention is to fill the theatre with distinctive and important voices," said Ritchie, "and at the same time we are fully realizing CTG's commitment to nurturing and presenting new work. Several of the new plays have been commissioned by CTG or supported by CTG's internal funding programs.

"We will have the world premiere of a CTG-commissioned play by Lisa Kron (known for her Broadway production of ‘Well'); the American premiere of ‘Tynan,' featuring Malcolm McDowell in what I'm sure will be a tour de force performance; and the welcomed return of Danai Gurira (whose ‘In the Continuum' was a Douglas Theatre and off-Broadway hit) with the West Coast premiere of her new work, ‘Eclipsed.'"

"In addition to these three plays," said Ritchie, "we will further break the constraints of the ‘traditional' subscription season at the theatre and present our second year of DouglasPlus programming. In fact, we no longer use the word ‘subscribers' but instead ‘season ticket members.' We're all members of a club where the rich roots of traditional theatre are appreciated but adventurous and genre-breaking theatre is also welcomed." DouglasPlus, with its limited number of performances and its use of both traditional and non-traditional performance spaces and seating configurations, allows more freedom with programming and scheduling.

"With this flexibility," Ritchie said, "we are able to present short runs of special events that benefit from the intimate nature of the Douglas, and we are able to experiment more, presenting plays in various phases of development that offer an amazing opportunity for the artist and audience alike to experience fresh, new, raw theatre."

"Eclipsed," a compelling portrait of transformation and renewal, will open the 2009-2010 season at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Danai Gurira, the Obie Award-winning actress and writer whose "In the Continuum" played at the Douglas in 2006, reunites with director Robert O'Hara to bring the West Coast premiere of her latest work to Los Angeles audiences, September 13 through October 18, 2009. The opening date is September 20.

Set in 2003 during Liberia's vicious civil war, "Eclipsed" follows the lives of a rebel commanding officer's "wives" as the women form a tightly-knit community and struggle for a degree of humanity in a hostile war zone. Their world is soon affected, however, by the arrival of two newcomers and the unceremonious return of a former "wife" turned rebel soldier. At once chilling and humanizing, "Eclipsed" dives deep into the wreckage of war and finds with surprising humor and compassion how each woman navigates, and at times, defies, the most hostile of circumstances in order to survive.

For "In the Continuum," about which the Los Angeles Times' review said, "If this one doesn't put a lump in your throat, your heart isn't beating," Danai Gurira and Robert O'Hara received the 2006 Obie Award; Gurira also won the 2006 John Gessner Outer Critics Circle Award and a Helen Hayes Award. She co-starred in the Academy Award-nominated film "The Visitor." Born in the United States to Zimbabwean parents and raised in Zimbabwe, she has a M.F.A. in Acting from New York University. "Eclipsed" received an Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award for its world premiere at Woolly Mammoth Theatre in August/September 2009. 

In spring 2010 the Douglas proudly hosts the world premiere of a new Lisa Kron play, which was commissioned by Center Theatre Group and will be co-produced with Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

For this insightful, deeply affecting new play, the Obie Award-winning playwright/performer reunites with director Leigh Silverman following Kron's highly acclaimed 2006 production of "Well" on Broadway. Kron's new play (currently untitled) will be presented March 21 through April 18, 2010. The opening is set for March 28.

At the heart of the story is Ellen, a smart, politically engaged, freelance writer who has created a warm circle of friends - a "puppy pile of people" - including her longtime partner, his sister and her partner. She gathers them together for a Thanksgiving dinner in 2000 but has trouble joining the festivities with her mind on the contested presidential election. She is adamant that her friends don't understand how bad the situation really is. It turns out that Ellen, in the midst of the political turmoil of the 21st century, is also unable to see the facts at the center of her own political and emotional life. Kron's searing new play unearths the assumptions of privilege and comfort that lie deep in the American character, and confronts the inescapable truth that no matter how intelligent, open or self-reflective you think you are, you'll never be able to see your own blind spot.

Lisa Kron has been writing and performing in theatre for over 25 years. A founding member of the Obie and Bessie Award-winning company The Five Lesbian Brothers, she has also made a significant mark on the American theatre scene with works such as her award-winning, one-woman play "2.5 Minute Ride" and "Well," which received two Tony Award nominations. Ben Brantley of The New York Times said of Kron's work, "... wonderfully evocative and often seriously funny, [Kron] sets off emotional vibrations that just won't stop."

The American premiere of the wickedly candid play "Tynan," featuring acclaimed actor Malcolm McDowell who portrays Kenneth Tynan, one of the most influential and fascinating men in the world of theatre, will be presented at the Douglas, May 6 through June 6, 2010. Opening is set for May 13. "Tynan" is based on the book "The Diaries of Kenneth Tynan" edited by John Lahr, and adapted for the stage by Richard Nelson with Colin Chambers. Richard Nelson will direct.

Tynan was a British theatre critic who was both respected and feared by playwrights whose careers he could make or break with his brilliant, razor-sharp prose. He was also a larger than life character who was a notorious gossip and eccentric, a connoisseur of wine and women, a producer of the first all-nude musical, "Oh! Calcutta!," and a leader in the early days of The National Theatre of Britain, handpicked by Sir Laurence Olivier.

Olivier said, "Kenneth Tynan was one of the finest dramatic critics of the 20th century. I put him up there alongside [George Bernard] Shaw . . . he was a major influence in what has now become our modern theatre." World-class actor Malcolm McDowell, who has created a gallery of iconic characters in the span of his remarkable career, is an excellent match for Tynan's passion and rapier wit. McDowell made his screen debut as the school rebel Mick Travis in "If . . .," followed by the lead role of the psychopath in Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange," the title role in "Caligula" and over 100 other feature film, theatre and television credits.

The programming for the DouglasPlus events will take place from November 2009 through February 2010, with a second DouglasPlus slot planned for late June through July 2010.

Projects already confirmed include a staged workshop of "Next Stop Amazingland," which both satirizes and embraces the world of magic and has been created by Geoff Sobelle and Trey Lyford of "all wear bowlers" (presented at the Douglas in 2005) with magician Steve Cuiffo; a special event, "The Lunacy Commission," an insanity-themed cabaret created by Director Lars Jan; and the world premiere production of the Obie Award-winning actress and playwright Dael Orlandersmith's powerful new work "Bones." Performance dates for these events will be announced in the fall.

"Next Stop Amazingland" is a CTG-commissioned piece, while Lars Jan's work is being developed with the assistance of CTG's Richard E. Sherwood Award which he received in 2007, and Dael Orlandersmith is a former CTG/William J. Fadiman Award winner.

Other DouglasPlus events will be announced in the fall.

DouglasPlus was first introduced last spring and included works by Kirk Douglas ("Before I Forget"), Mike Daisey ("How Theater Failed America" and "The Last Cargo Cult"), Los Angeles playwright Michael Sargent ("The Projectionist") and hip-hop theatre artist Matt Sax ("Venice"), along with a special youth theatre piece ("Darwin").

Funding for DouglasPlus is provided by The James Irvine Foundation's Artistic Innovative Fund and the Leading for the Future Initiative, a program of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Douglas Theatre patrons can enjoy pre-show box dinners, lunches and snacks in the theatre's lobby and bar area, The Lounge, which is also open after performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, with a full bar, music and a live DJ.

2009-2010 Season is Currently Available by Season Ticket Memberships Only. The 2009-2010 season at the Douglas is currently available by season ticket memberships only. The season includes "Eclipsed," Lisa Kron's new play and "Tynan," plus tickets to two DouglasPlus events. Two performances from each of the productions will have post-play discussions - Stage Talks - scheduled. Also available for each production is AfterWords, which takes place a week after the show has closed and encourages audience members to come back to the theatre for a fun social hour of refreshments and a discussion of the play.

For information and to charge season tickets by phone, call the Exclusive Season Ticket Membership Hotline at (213) 972-4444. To purchase online, visit www.CenterTheatreGroup.org.

For information regarding Project D.A.T.E. (audio description and sign language interpreted performances), discount memberships are available by calling TDD/Voice (213) 680-4017 or (213) 972-7444.

Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre is located at 9820 Washington Blvd. in Culver City. Free parking is available near the theatre and many restaurants are within walking distance of theatre.

Center Theatre Group, a non-profit organization, is one of the largest and most active theatre companies in the nation, programming subscription seasons year-round at the 739-seat Mark Taper Forum and the 1,600 to 2,000-seat Ahmanson Theatre at the Music Center of Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to providing theatre of the highest caliber to the rich, diverse communities of Southern California and beyond, CTG supports a significant number of play development and arts education initiatives.

 

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